Monday, April 30, 2007

Grey whales in the eastern Pacific appear to be in some trouble, with the cause far from clear, scientists say.

Researchers with the conservation group Earthwatch foundthat whales are arriving in their breeding grounds off the Mexicancoast malnourished.

The same thing happened just after the 1997/8 El Nino event, which warmed the waters and depleted food stocks.Scientists are not sure whether the current decline is climate related or part of a natural predator-prey cycle. more

I don't suppose Aunty will take over as the world's most famous lesbian, but if the interest in this story is anything to go by she is going to run her a close second. I have just totted up "aunty maiduguri" hits to the blog made via a Google search, fifty four hits from Google out of the last hundred visits, and from every corner of the globe.Why the interest? I haven't a clue.

SapphoCharles-August Mengin. Oil on canvas, 1877

I had the pleasure of attending a Pre-Raphaelite exhibition in Burmingum some little while ago, the fine detail in the paintings was stunning, virtually photographic in fact.

US leader George W Bush is preparing to exercise his presidential veto for only the second time in seven years of office.

According to political analyst Larry Sabato, Mr Bush's reluctance to exercise his veto during six years of Republican-controlled Congress, before the Democrats gained sway last year, may have hurt him and his party

"Other presidents have used the veto hundreds of times," says Mr Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

"This is one of the least impressive aspects of the Bush presidency - it suggests weakness and it has been a major mistake by Bush. More

My analysis: Two vetoes, one to protect a bit of snot in a petri dish, the other because Congress is calling time on his killing. Such a fucking Christian.

The Al-Madina regional branch of the Saudi religious and morality police, formally known as "The Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices," recently launched its new website.[1] The site posts news items, citizens' violations, and includes a section that allows citizens to inform anonymously on persons they suspect of violating religious and moral laws. The following is a summary of the website's recent content: more, all about.

Women in Saudi Arabia who walk unaccompanied, or are in the company of a man who is neither their husband nor a close relative, are at risk of arrest on suspicion of prostitution or other "moral" offences. Amnesty.

The Religious Police are colloquially known as the Muttawa, although that term also refers to anyone who is "very religious". Their full title is "General Presidency of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vices". I doubt whether George Orwell could have thought of a better title. Here is their logo, on the door of a Suburban.

They can be recognised by their long beards and knee-length tunics (Thobes) that reveal rather skinny and unattractive legs. They also carry a short cane-like stick. They are often accompanied by a policeman. They have no power of arrest themselves, hence the accompanying policeman. However, once you are arrested, you can be detained and interrogated in their own premises.

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They are often recruited from Theology College graduates who fail to get jobs as Imams. Another source of recruitment is "born-again" prisoners. Overall, they are not credited with virtue, judgement or intellect. Without an accompanying policeman, they are not physically formidable. In fact, when they start yelling at you to go to prayer or cover your wife's face, the temptation to smack them in the face is almost overwhelming.

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At the time of the first Gulf War, they would target female GI's when they came into town. Their male colleagues (or occasionally the female GI's themselves) would often dump them into a nearby fountain or rubbish skip. The muttawa were tactically withdrawn from the major cities for a time, to avoid further incidents and damage to fountains.

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They once arrested the wife of an African ambassador, and her driver, in the Al Faisaliyah shopping mall in Riyadh, accusing her of being a "prostitute" out with a "John". She was detained for several hours. They ignored the diplomatic passport she was carrying. A major diplomatic incident was avoided when the government apologised and promised to build another mosque in the country concerned.

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A Canadian expat was walking with his wife in one of the shopping malls. The wife was pregnant, and carrying a small toddler in one arm. As a result of holding the toddler, her robe (Abaya) was lifted up at the side, revealing 3" of leg. A muttawa came up and remonstrated, and hit her on the bare ankle with his stick to make his point. The Canadian gentleman flattened him, breaking his jaw and knocking out several teeth in the process. The Canadian Embassy were involved. It was conceded that the Muttawa had overstepped his authority, but the family had to return to Canada.

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The wife of the Commander of the US base south of Riyadh, was walking in the souk in central Riyadh. A pair of Marine "minders", in plain clothes, were walking some yards behind. A muttawa moved across to start to remonstrate with her. He suddenly found himself enveloped by one Marine, as the other led the lady back to their car. The muttawa was upended and thrown onto his back, severely winding him. He's probably still trying to figure out what happened.

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers.One witness said he saw three policemen "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya".

Once you comprehend the duplicity and pretensions of Saudi policy vis--vis Islam and its dissemination of unbound hatred for anything un-Islamic, you will certainly come to terms with the realities of Saudi Arabia. Please bear in mind that the Saudi education system, in particular its religious education system, is in the heart of all the terrorism we are experiencing in to today's world. More. (long article)

[T]uesday, February 14, 2006, (a flower shop owner closed his stores for three days in order to avoid harassment from the moral police. Al-watan daily reported. valentine's day is favorite target of the committee for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, viewed by the religious police as a holiday that promotes immoral behavior. Red roses often disappear from stores before, during and after the holiday in order to avoid attracting the attention of the police patrols, specially in the kingdom's capital .

I personally had witnessed many flower shops remain closed on the Valentine's Day, because they were fined last year for opening their doors on this day. They must remain closed even when they do not sell any roses at all. The religious police forces this closure because they do not want students and young people to emulate the infidels. These religious zealots are afraid that these young people might fall in love with the infidels. The religious authority does not tolerate any reason to love a non-Muslim. They must promote hatred towards the non-Muslims to erase from the minds of young Saudi any trace of love or compassion for them (non-Muslims). The saddest reality is that they (religious police) are very successful in creating fear and utter disdain for the non-Muslims through coercion, intimidation, terror and through sheer brute force-the almighty force of Islam.

In summary, I can say that signs of love are a great sin in Saudi Arabia. Music is "Satan's sound" and loving a non-Muslim is a serious crime, sometimes punishable with severe punishment. All these depravity and inhuman acts are perpetrated right in front of government's eye. It is, in fact fully supported by the state through money and infrastructure. Please note that all Islamic organizations in Saudi Arabia are supported by the government. The government is a silent supporter of all religious extremism in Saudi Arabia. This silent support for the Islamist bigots is to ensure that no one dares to criticize the royal family. The Saudi royal policy to wards the Islamist terrorists can be summed up in these few words: Burn the whole world if you (the Islamist terrorists) want, but do not say or do anything against us.

Therefore, who could really believe that Saudi Arabia is against the terrorists? Please do think this over.

In recognition of his many faces Randall L. Tobias is this weeks receiver of the Town Hall Clock Award for hypocrisy.

And for your wry amusement some of the Republican comments associated with the article.

Republican leadership? Democratic leadership?Where are Christian leaders? My daughter was in jr.high duringClinton's horrendous sexual conduct scandal. Every week Time magazinehad the story. Our children all over the world were all aware of whatthe president of the U.S. was admitting to, yet he was re-elected. Whathas happened to our country? Tobias is not alone in his actions. But Ifeel we need to mention the money our political representatives spendtaking these trips. That's another subject and problem! (highlight mine)

Posted by: Angela | Apr 27, 2007 10:14:52 PM

You know, it's not a sin to report the news about us winning.

Let me get this straight. Some old guy hiresan escort and it's front page breaking news...but I have to hunt tofind the story on this site where Iraqis are saying that Baghdad isstarting to be safer because of our troop surge? (and this one, what world, what world?)

Posted by: Rob K | Apr 27, 2007 11:53:25 PM

The poor man should be left alone. Who cares if he go a massage? Shame on ABC for not minding their own business

Hundreds of women have been arrested for "bad hijab"Good heavens! can't be having bad hijab, must be dressed correctly when they hang you.I despise these fuckers.

They are stopping pedestrians and even cars - warning female drivers not show any hair - and impounding the vehicles and arresting the women if they argue back.Middle-aged women, foreign tourists and journalists have all been harassed, not just the young and fashionably dressed.

Boutique owners are furious. Some shops have been sealed - others warned not to sell tight revealing clothing.

One shopkeeper selling evening dresses told us the moral police had ordered him to saw off the breasts of his mannequins because they were too revealing. More

I have referred to the no knock warrant in other posts, some now defunct due to the time line, but for a good all-round background,and the ever increasing use of swat teams for domestic busts, I have a link to an excellent article from Slate.com in one of my longer compositions,Driving Lessons, Child Abuse, And A Nation Obsessed.

It's written in my "Roundabout" style, preferring to get from A to B via the country roads as opposed to blasting down the motorway as it were. A small piece here then that includes the link. I hope you might take time to read it.

And just as there is no sin as a separate entity, the exact same must apply to Evil.Evil isn’t going to creep into your bedroom and give you a “Gotcha” as you hide your head under the covers.Hopefully it will be your partner playing silly buggers, or worst case scenarios, a real bad dude that we misguidedly call evil, or worst still the cops bursting in with a “No Knock Warrant”

The original story of a Ninety Two year old granny got herself wasted can be found here. Seems she took exception to people breaking into her home in the small hours, getting a few shots off in defence of her person and her home very quickly resulted in one dead granny as the cops blasted her to death. The whole raid by the way was based on a tip from some scumbag informer. The cops gave the usual yada yada bullshit at the time but for once it didn't go the "right" way for the dirty cops and some months down the line we appear to be seeing a little justice being done.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 04/26/07Two Atlanta police officers made a second appearancein court today to plead guilty to felonies in the fatal shooting of a 92-year-old woman in her home

Officers Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith made their second stop Wednesday afternoon to plead guilty to violating the civil rights of Kathryn Johnston by killing her during a botched drug raid at her home Nov. 21. 2006.

Before the hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Julie Carnes the two officers sat side-by-side on a bench. Junnier stared ahead while Smith read silently from a Bible opened to the book of John.

When I read shite like that it burns me, it sets me on fucking fire.

Junnier, who has retired, was charged with three counts of felony murder, violation of oath by a public officer, criminal solicitation, two counts of burglary and one each of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and making a false statement.

Yes so very Christian of him, and who knows how many innocents are banged up due to planted or bent evidence. What a goddamn hypocrite. More

You can find lots of examples of No Knocks that have gone awry here, they all seem to end up with somebody being very dead. But then don't they all when the cops and swat teams get all dressed up and nowhere to go.

The intended post kind of got hijacked when I went looking for a suitable graphic. I did however collect this little lot on the way, I didn't have to go looking, and apart from one clip that I haven't linked to this is pretty much as they came. As far as research goes you wouldn't be scratting around trying to find something to post, there's a abundance of it.

Padilla has been in solitary confinement for the last 5 years. During that time he was drugged, humiliated, and tortured—all of the practices which have become commonplace under Bush. For the first 4 years he was deprived of habeas corpus and legal counsel. During that period, he was never charged with a crime. He was simply declared an “enemy combatant” and stripped of his rights. His arrest has been used to establish the precedent that Bush can arbitrarily imprison American citizens without filing charges. It is the very definition of tyranny. More.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A man who shot and killed an acquaintance after an argument was beheaded Tuesday in one of two executions in Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry said.In the second execution, Mohammed Wahab Rowaidad, a Pakistani, was beheaded in the western port of Jiddah for smuggling heroin into the country.

This is most unusual. Not beheading drug smugglers, but doing it on a Tuesday. They’re supposed to do it on a Friday, after Friday prayers. You go to Friday Prayers in the main mosque of a large city, and if you pray piously, Allah rewards you with a public execution in the square outside. But there’s nobody around on a Tuesday.

The thing we should face up to as Saudis is that Public Executions are “showbiz”. So we should do them properly. If we were the USA, with their “by invitation only” executions, we could afford to be low-key about the whole thing. But we’re not ashamed of having ours in public, so let’s do it with style.

At the moment what happens is that a couple of guys put down a big polythene sheet. Then the executioner arrives. Then the van arrives with the prisoner and his guard. They lead the prisoner to the center of the sheet and make him kneel. If the relatives of his victim want to pardon him, now is the time for them to shout, and he’s released, pays blood money instead. Otherwise the sword swings, head comes off, lots of blood, people faint, someone pukes. Body and head are taken away. Polythene sheet rolled up. All over.

That’s not really showbiz, is it? It’s obviously a ceremony designed by civil servants. It needs more “pazazz”. It needs to be more “Hollywood”.

1. It needs a compere. Someone sleazy, an arabic Jerry Springer

2. Then we need a “trailer-trash” audience. Oh, we’ve got that. They’re called “Bedu”, come in from the desert where they live in tents. So that’s OK.

3. There should be a warm-up act to get the audience going. Belly-dancers from the Lebanon would be good.

4. Then we need some mascots, like a European soccer match. Little boys, dressed up as executioners, with miniature swords, come on and have their photos taken. Their parents look on proudly with moist eyes.

5. Then, like a big boxing match, there should be some lesser events first. A couple of public floggings, for example, 100 lashes each, would go down well.

6. Then the compere should interview the families of the criminal and his victim. Cue poignant photo of criminal as young toddler playing with stuffed camel, home video of victim sitting with family. Sit them next to each other, maybe they’ll fight, like Jerry Springer’s show.

7. Then when the victim is marched in, they should play an appropriate song. Like the one by Gentle GiantI lost my head, it was not easy,unknown, unread, it wasn't easy,and each day, each night,wasn't wrong, nor right,I can't remember what I saidI lost my head. Something the audience can clap to.

8. Then the audience can vote on whether the family will pardon the criminal. Then they can try and influence the family with their shouts – cries of “take the money!” and “chop the bastard!” build up to a crescendo.

9. Assuming no pardon, there’s a battery of stroboscopic lights and the sword swings. It’s magnified on a massive screen. There are endless replays from different angles. Then in slow motion. Two commentators, retired executioners, discuss the finer points of the swing. Sombre music plays as the corpse and head are removed. The lights dim. That’s it until the next time.

10. However, we’ll be showing highlights after the 9 o’clock news… Then there’s the “Executioner of the Year” awards in May. …..And don’t forget to watch “Favorite Execution Bloopers of all time”. ……….Buy “The 52 Executions of 2003” DVD Compilation……………..Visit the Executioner Hall of Fame…………………………..

This guy just blows me away, this Batman and Robin is hardly credible, how on earth does anyone draw such a thing on a flat side walk? Check out the bottle, complete with shadow and the artist "kneeling on top." More tomorrow.

Not content to seek to deprive the Guantanamo detainees of habeas corpus and access to the federal courts to challenge the conditions of their confinement, the Bush Administration is taking it one step further. Now, it wants to limit the detainees' access to their lawyers.Talk Left

The BBC's flagship news and current affairs programme Newsnight has won a special prize at the annual Orwell Awards.

The judges called Newsnight the "most precious and authoritative home for proper reporting of important stories, beautifully crafted by journalists of rare distinction".

The Orwell Prize aims to carry forward George Orwell's ambition "to make political writing into an art" and refers to political writing in the broadest sense.

And bless 'em, they have posted six "Special Reports" for viewing pleasure. I have watched the "White Horse Village" previously, an excellent documentary although inevitably sad, the price of "progress" doesn't come cheap.

I have blogged enough for today, I shall sit back and watch a bit of something. Enjoy.

Governor Deval Patrick wants to end state-sponsored , abstinence-only sex education in Massachusetts, a year after Governor Mitt Romney ordered the Department of Public Health to redirect a long-standing federal abstinence grant to classes that focus exclusively on encouraging teenagers to avoid sexual encounters. More

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The Gor Blimey Hall of Fame

We aren’t writing about the investigations into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann or any possible suspects: we don’t want to prejudice a legal process that is working in a most satisfactory way. - John Blacksmith

Read the Summers and Swan book if you want an impartial intelligent insight. It debunks conspiracy theorists amateur analysis - Jim Gamble

"I have seen no basis at any stage for challenging the integrity of the police."

Lord Justice Leveson - The Leveson Inquiry

We never take for granted the continued support and trust which Londoners feel for their Met.Bernard Hogan-Howe

Bush told reporters that “One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, ‘Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come.’

George W Bush on Iraq 2008

"It is sad that we live in a time when a talented and honourable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons," Bush said in Crawford, Texas.

''The effects of radiation do not come to people that are happy and laughing. They come to people that are weak-spirited, that brood and fret.''

“I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude, and I believe most Iraqis express that. I mean, the people understand that we've endured great sacrifice to help them. That's the problem here in America. They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq.”

Bush interview 60 Minutes 1/14/07

“All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.” – John Hagee

''Once Iraq becomes a very rich and prosperous country... we would hope that some consideration be given to repaying the United States some of the mega-dollars that we have spent here in the last eight years.

We were hoping that there would be a consideration of a payback because the United States right now is in close to a very serious economic crisis and we could certainly use some people to care about our situation as we have cared about theirs.''

Dana Rohrabacher (R) June 2011

''It's not natural for animals to eat each other, they have taken on the nature of Satan. What is natural for animals is to live in the way they were created in the Garden of Eden.''